Pay Up: College Athletes Getting Paid

Hello. My name is Joe Schmoe. I am a six-foot, ten-inch kid from Nowhere, U.S.A. My grades are not good, but I can play basketball. I am a basketball player for my local high school. I am widely considered a prodigy by some people in my hometown. I averaged 43.0 points per game, 13.0 rebounds per game, and 11.0 assists per game in high school. I live with my three-jobs working Mom and my five siblings in our little apartment on the South side of town. Is there anything else you want to ask me?

Ah, the life of a young basketball star.

That excerpt is mostly what you would get asked by a recruiter. That's what high school basketball players usually say when asked by a college coach about their profile. Then, if the coach likes him, he will give him a full boat scholarship to the university, free of charge. All to play basketball.

Imagine that? Going to school for nothing to play basketball? You could be the dumbest, most ignorant stump in the world and you get to go to college for free.

Why does this free college to athletes happen? One word: MONEY.

Everybody loves money. Especially colleges. That's why, according to collegedata.com, the average cost of a college education for the 2016-2017 school year was $33,480 for private schools, $9,650 for a state school for a state resident, and $24,930 for a public school for an out-of-state resident. Wow that is a lot of money for college. Yet, colleges keep loving to rip people off and get their money.

You may ask the question: Well, where does the rest of their money come from? The cost per person to attend can't cover all the costs of teachers, running the school, maintenance, bills, and son on.

Well, that answer is simply athletics.

In 2015, according to businessinsider.com, all 231 NCAA Division I schools with data available made a total of$9.15 billion dollars. Twenty-four of those schools made North of $100 million. Also, 34% make between $20 million and $50 million. Where does all this money come from? If you answered the players, then ding ding ding we have a winner.

Colleges makes boatloads of money off of brining these high school athletic stars in to help them win games, propel their school, sell tickets, and of course make them money. Most of these kids are getting full scholarships to do so. It is a sort of incentive to come play for them. Here's a free scholarship to come to our schools for an education, when really we just want to see if you can catch a football, or dribble a basketball, or hit a baseball, and so on.

Wait a minute, though. If these kids are making money for these schools, especially in the millions, then why don't they get paid? If you asked that, then damn you are good.

College athletes are pulling the NCAA carriage along down victory lane while the NCAA sits in its giant carriage lazying away in money. This does not seem fair to college athletes. They are the ones making the money. They are the ones brining the fans to the game. They are the ones promoting the product. Where is their share of the success.

Well, their "share" is that they get to go to college for free and then go home to their broken house if they even have one with none, one, or two parents (if they are lucky) who are working three jobs on the side to support the family who cannot even afford supper that night. This is all happening while the heads of the NCAA have a five-star dinner at the new fancy restaurant that opened in the city that they drove their nice 2017 Corvettes to from their $800,000 house.

Most college athletes live at or below the poverty line. They are living with an income much less than their actual worth. Let's look at a study done by Drexel University, where they looked at the worth and income of college athletes. According to the study, The study found that the average full scholarship was $3,222. Also, the study showed that roughly 86% of basketball and football athletes that received a full ride scholarship were living below the federal poverty line. Compare that to how the average Division I football and basketball player was found to be worth about $120,048 and $265,027.

Someone seems to be getting short-changed here.

Two prime examples in the study were at the University of Texas and Duke University. At Texas, the market value of the football players in 2010 was $513,922, yet they lived $778 below the federal poverty line and had a scholarship shortfall of $3,624. At Duke, the basketball players received a market value of $1,025,656 while they were living only $732 over the poverty line and had a scholarship shortfall amount of $1,995.

So, the point here is that these athletes are getting scholarships to play a sport for a school, and these scholarships are far below the worth of the athlete himself. If athletes are worth as much as a lawyer, then why are they not getting paid that much?

I guess there's always that old saying that education is priceless. I mean, if education is priceless, then those athletes are getting the best of both worlds with an education and playing a sport. Well, the problem there is that these athletes are not putting anything into that education. According to a 2010 article by the New York Times, the average GPA of recruited athletes ten years ago was 2.84 for men and 3.24 for women. Then, with SAT scores, usnews.com found that college football players scored 200 points lower on their SATs than their classmates, and men's basketball was 227 points lower. So, these kids are not getting the most out of their education since they don't care.

So, if college athletes make no progress on paper, but make money on the field, then why not go straight to professional sports? Well, that answer is that some pro sports do not allow a high school to professional transition. In the two of the four biggest sports in America, football and basketball, that rule stands firm.

So, if these kids are being forced to go to college instead of straight to the pros, then there should be some incentive. That incentive is to mature and get a college education, two things that a six-foot, eleven-inch, 2.5 GPA student does not care about.

Again, this is not true for all athletes. A lot of athletes want a college education of course and excel in the classroom. However, most do not apply to that standard.

This is another reason as to whether college athletes should get paid. Not only are they making mega bucks for you, but some are getting forced to go to college. So they need some money here. It is unfair if they are not paid.

Some of the big pros to college athletes getting paid are that they can support their family; they can have an incentive to stay in college longer; it puts a restraint on corruption from outside forces such as agents and boosters that pay athletes under-the-table as so many scandals have shown us; and it is the right thing to do to pay athletes what they are worth to your school.

However, every rose has its thorn.

Paying college athletes? How is that fair to other students? Say you earn a 4.0 GPA, you graduate top of your class, you have spent your whole life volunteering and working to solve world hunger or save the whales or whatnot, yet when the time comes, a college gives you a couple thousand dollars.

Wait a minute, but you worked just as hard as that college athlete. You actually do something of value you argue. Who cares if the kid can dribble the basketball, or run for a touchdown, or hit a baseball? You actually bring smarts to the table! After all, aren't you, the smart one, the one who brings the reputation to the college. Aren't you the one who makes it nationally ranked? Why are you getting shortchanged if you are also helping the college out and helping it build endowments?

This is a big problem in paying athletes. You can't pay an athlete if you don't pay the students. Sure athletes bring incredible amounts of money to the school, but the scholars are the ones who make it even considered a school. Otherwise it would be just a sports camp.

Sure sometimes you get a full scholarship, but how is that kid who sits on the bench at Duke getting a full ride to slack off in school and play basketball, meanwhile the students are making it one of the most elite schools in America? That's the big point.

Speaking of unfairness, who is to judge who should make what amount? How is that guy who averages 23.0 points per game worth more than the guy who scores three goals a game? They are both helping boost the school's revenue. Yet, one sport is more valuable than the other so pay the more valuable sport's athlete more money. Even if it were the same sport, how can you judge different schools and how much should each athlete should get paid? If one school pays a kid $200,000, the next will pay $400,000, then the next $600,000, and the next $1 million. Then schools with big money will take all the kids and there goes competition out the window.

Plus, with money, why care about the game anymore and why go to class anymore? If you get paid, it is basically a profession, so you don't have to go to classes if you don't want to and you don't have to care about what's next since you are making money. If you are making money to play, then you are not a college student anymore, and you are a professional. So you are really not in college to begin with.

Let's not forget that you have the financial irresponsibility of kids. Who knows what they will do with the money? The kids will use up money like candy and there goes all that money and you are back to being broke again.

So, the big cons here are many. You have the financial irresponsibility of kids, the unfairness of compensation between athletes, the unfairness of pay to begin with, the fact that athletes will not go to classes, and money will remove competition from the game.

Listen, there are two sides to every argument. This is an endless debate that goes on and on. Pretty soon, you could see college athletes paid, or you could see a major straight-to-pro increase of high schoolers. This could be a moral thing, too. Go to college, receive an education, you don't need to get paid yet. Or you should get paid if making all that money for your school.

Overall, this is all opinion. It's up to the NCAA and the athletes to decide. Money is on the line, and the ball is in their court.

#NCAA #Sports #College #CollegeSports #Basketball #Football #Revenue